Hi there. We're a family that has a 2 yr old and a 4 month old children. My wife and I used to camp a lot, probably 50/50 of camping music events and 'normal' camping spots. I had motorbike injury 5 years ago which resulted in chronic pain and 'half' of my arm working 5 years later, I had a completely 'dead arm', nerve damage resulted in my arm not working, slowly healing up. Anyway, long story short, we're back to camping, purchased a camping trailer which replaces a 8 man tent we used to use that won't fit with our clothes + gear for camping now that our back car seat has the 2 little ones. Plus putting up a 'normal' tent with my bung arm probably is impossible by myself. My wife won't take our youngest to a music camping event for a while so I'll be going with our 2 yr old to the occasional music event, looking forward to that.

We plan to go for a weekend away next week to see how we go camping now we have kids plus the trailer, exciting times ahead for our new chapter at returning to the camping lifestyle. We also want to work out what we want/need for future, like possible hot water, generator, cooking stuff besides the basics of clothes, bedding and food. Having kids makes one want to be 'perfect' for them we are finding out, we used to be care free and 'make do' when we camped out, now we want to plan for every possible event before we have gone for our first 'tester' camping trip.

Anyway, hi all and hope we find the love of the great outdoors again, this time with our greatest love besides us, our kids! Also, sorry if this and/or future posts are hard to read at times. My pain meds for my ongoing chronic pain can and do mess with me, but that's life and I'm used to it, hoping I don't give too many headaches with my posts. *does a hello wave to all*

Hi Wazza and WELCOME to the forum and hopefully back into the camping fold.

My suggestion really would be to keep it simple....kids are often very happy with the simplest things in life especially when it comes to camping....it's all the more fun then.

Nothing wrong with putting the billy on to heat some water for a shower and tub....cooking sausages on an old BBQ plate over the campfire and shoving it in a bun with some sauce for dinner.

Don't over plan the camping trips....let them happen......there'll be less stress for you and more fun doing it together.

Even though Cassie is only 2, give her some little chores to do to help you set up camp and even pack the car/CT before you leave home. It'll help her develop a sense of responsibility and she'll feel like she has made a contribution to the enjoyment of the camp.

It is my belief that good camping trips with kids sets them on a path to better things in life.

I have to agree with Gypsy here, the simpler the better especially with kids.

When ours were little we only had the basics, we never camped with a gennie (sorry hate those things),or hot water systems etc, we used to heat up some hot water in a bucket over the campfire or in summer we have one of those shower bags that lay on the bonnet of the car and heat up during the day. We have only got a few more mod cons since the girls have become teenagers and even then they are only the basics. We have gone from a tent to second hand CT (no kitchen,water etc) to our new CT and the only mod cons we have is water tank, kitchen(basic with no gas as we cook on butane stoves),annexe & inner spring mattress (as hubby broke his pelvis a few years back and needs the good bed or he aches all day and is flat out walking). We don't even have 12v power in our new CT. We use camplights and our kids each have their own,our kids even when they were little each had their own jobs to do....even if its something small it keeps them busy and involved.

What CT do you have? And what music camping events do you guys like to go to? We have our yearly trip to Mudgee to Day on the Green and our kids love it just as much as we do.

Looking forward to hearing about how you get on with your first trip. Start with the basics and add something to the list as you think you need it. That way you are not up for a motza to start with and have stuff you never end up using.